how many people tip Maitre d' because we have never tip himmostly because we have really never seen him the only time we seen him through our cruise is on the first night than when he is standing at the door on the last night waiting for his tips we have never tip him only our waiter who is very nice and helpfulif he would have come by more and we actully knew him we would have tip him

Trip

October 21st, 2010 02:53 PM

This is an often asked, good question. My answer has always been, If we reap any benefits from the maitre'd, I will tip him. I think I have done it twice in appreciation of service. Once when, he seemed to arranged for our entire table to dine with the Captain....we all tipped him...

He/She, is someone most don't see till the end of the cruise....

Donna

October 21st, 2010 03:18 PM

They generally will stop by your table and indroduce himself and ask if there is anything he can do. In that case, I do tip him, otherwise, no it would be necessary.

Lakers Fan

October 21st, 2010 08:51 PM

I never have but I know people who do so

LisaK

October 22nd, 2010 08:27 AM

I agree with the others,if he/she has done something special for you, then yes we would tip, otherwise no

Princess Mich

January 12th, 2012 06:49 PM

No need to tip him, unless he does something extra special for you (which hardly ever happens). He and the head waiters make so much money, save your tips for the people who are actually work hard - head and assistant waiters.

RichC

January 13th, 2012 09:21 AM

Some people will tip him especially if he provide them something special like a select seat in the dining room or special meals each night they request during the cruise. The only thing we've ever done is ask for a reserved table during the whole trip in the AT DR and I consider that as part of his responsibilities.

Golden1

January 13th, 2012 12:05 PM

If you do tip the waiter, how do you do so? Do you track him down and hand him cash at the end of the meal?

Spartan kent

January 13th, 2012 01:09 PM

Never see much of him, a lot of ships you just have a wine steward now and a small cellar. I normally buy a wine package and prepay the gratuities. I find it easier then if someone goes the extra mile I give them a cash tip.
On RCL the assistant waiter was very good she brought the wine every night, knew exactly what wine I drink and what my wife drinks so I clip a $10.00 bill under the ticket I sign each night for my bottle of wine ;)
I use my time but if you turn up around the same time each night or ask to sit in a particular waiters area they soon sort it for you. :)

2katz3fsh

January 23rd, 2012 10:07 AM

We tend to eat in specialty restaurants on cruise ships which have them and as we eat there every night, we always see the Maitre'D each and every evening. He will always come to our table and talk with us during the meal, ask us how we enjoyed it, if there is anything else we would like, etc. Because we usually are extremely well taken care of, the favor is returned and both the maitre'd, and his wait staff, are well taken care of as well, on a nightly basis (in addition to the fee paid to eat there).

It's totally up to the individual, but this is what works well for us.

Julie Silva

January 23rd, 2012 01:42 PM

I give cash tips on cruises to the people that I think deserve them. I was talking to a few people on my cruise last week and I was told by more than one person that they receive very little of what is broken down for them. My cabin steward was given a $20.00 when I arrived and another when I left ($40.00 total). He bent over backwards for me and my son! I had the best service from him through the 7 day cruise. As far as the people in the dining rooms my experience there was less than par and I only ate there one night so I felt n need to tip any of them for a service I did not receive.
I have the gratuities removed from the ship and sail account so I can tip the people in person!

MercedMike

January 24th, 2012 11:51 AM

Removing tips

Quote:

Originally Posted by Julie Silva
(Post 1411462)

I give cash tips on cruises to the people that I think deserve them.
I have the gratuities removed from the ship and sail account so I can tip the people in person!

Well, you understand that the people you tip are then required to turn the tip into the pool and do not get to keep it? And that when you remove the tip at the purser's office it counts AGAINST them? All you really accomplish is a chance to thank them in person.

Actually a far better reward for those who serve you well is to commend them by name on your comment card. These cards ARE read by the top staff and it is important for them to get their name mentioned.

On Princess there are the "blue cards" you can hand to a staff member who serves you well and these are also very important to them. Among other things they can get extra shore leave by them.

Donna

January 24th, 2012 06:47 PM

What are these "blue cards", first I've heard of them, and how to you get them to hand out to the staff?

snorklr45

January 24th, 2012 08:37 PM

I tipped my cabin steward extra on my last cruise because he did such an extra good job of taking care of me and my cabin. I handed him the cash since his assistant only took care of my room once and did not do a great job.

Fern

January 24th, 2012 09:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donna
(Post 1411688)

What are these "blue cards", first I've heard of them, and how to you get them to hand out to the staff?

Donna, I think these are the "You Made a Difference" cards that you can fill out for any crew who goes above and beyond. We always have a huge handful to hand in at the end of our cruise :D!

We don't tip the Maitre d'. He/she makes a salary. We've never had any contact with any Maitre d' and I'm not sure that would make much of a difference.

We leave the auto tips on and tip extra to those who go the extra mile.

JMO,
Fern

MercedMike

January 25th, 2012 11:39 AM

Blue cards

Quote:

Originally Posted by Donna
(Post 1411688)

What are these "blue cards", first I've heard of them, and how to you get them to hand out to the staff?

There are usually a couple of them in your cabin. I think maybe there is one on each table in the dining room too. I believe the above post is right, they say "You Make A Difference." You hand them to the employee or turn them in at the purser's desk. We handed out a couple on our last cruise and the recipients were very grateful and said they meant a lot to them.

Queen of Oakville

January 25th, 2012 12:26 PM

We generally don't tip the M'aitre D - when asked to do so.

If the "tip" is the service charge applied to your sail account, we usually leave it as is, tipping extra cash in person -where needed.

The one and only exception this was on our FOTS cruise last summer. To be honest, I can't recall exactly if he was the Head Waiter or the M'aitre D ... but this gentlemen went out of his way EVERY night to give exceptional service. EVERY night he greeted us, and then came by to check on us. If he saw our drinks were low, he made sure we were brought more. If he saw that we had ordered something that was not the "Chef's Special" he brought us some to sample, because he thought we might enjoy it (often he was right!). He also went over and above to get access to more than our allotment for the character breakfasts. We gave him a very generous tip, and he deserved EVERY penny. He also knew of my son's peanut allergies and gave us daily reports of any items that might be a concern.

Princess Mich

March 5th, 2012 02:10 PM

Don't tip them unless they do something special. They make so much money, they don't need tips. Save your gratuities for the real hard workers like your waiter and assistant waiter.

Mtab

June 23rd, 2012 08:17 AM

I don't know if it's the maitre'd or head waiter, but often on the FIRST day, my husband will hand them a large tip and for the remainder of the cruise, we basically make our own menu. they are very anxious to please and com around often. they are worth every cent. at the end of the cruise our tablemates are so pleased, they end up tipping as well.

MercedMike

June 23rd, 2012 10:06 AM

Big tip?

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mtab
(Post 1434103)

I don't know if it's the maitre'd or head waiter, but often on the FIRST day, my husband will hand them a large tip and for the remainder of the cruise, we basically make our own menu. they are very anxious to please and com around often. they are worth every cent. at the end of the cruise our tablemates are so pleased, they end up tipping as well.

I don't believe in tipping in advance. So you think that you buy good service with a big tip? Compare your report to the one by Queen of Oakville just above it. Have you ever considered that you might get good service because of a good wait staff, and then in turn recognize it by a big tip at the end? ;)

If it is indeed true that a headwaiter gives you special privileges and does things he does not do for other passengers because you bribe him in advance, he deserves to be fired. His job is to supervise all the waiters and see that all the passengers get proper service. Doing his job right entitles him to his share of the tip pool.

If I suspected that a head waiter was being bribed to give extraordinary treatment to certain passengers, I would report him to the Hotel Manager, and I would withhold all my tips for the entire dining room.

Now, my DW has a way of entrancing waiters and head waiters. On one cruise, our headwaiter was Italian and my wife chatted with him quite a bit about her Italian heritage. A.t one point she mentioned her fondness for zabilogne (sp?) and lo and behold the next night our entire table was presented with specially made servings! The headwaiter performed his job of making passengers happy without a bribe in advance. Naturally, on that particular trip I did see that he got a nice tip at the end, which is the proper place to pass out tips IMAO.

The tipping system, as it has evolved over so many years, is an excellent way of ensuring good service. Distorting it by automatic tipping, adding extra to fixed tips, tipping in advance and other misunderstandings of the system will inevitably result in poorer service. Do you really want to encourage a system in which only those who pay for it in advance will get good service?

grjhansen

June 23rd, 2012 02:43 PM

Suggestion...

For the people who go "beyond the normal" service on our cruises, we give them phone cards. When someone has done a really good job of taking care of us, we like to find somewhere in a port of call, phone cards from their "home" country so they can call home. You would think we had given them gold...They truly appreciate them and it doesn't go "into the pool".